Homura Quest
by Deviate's Fish
Summary: A little RP I had on SB, before the supermod or admin there went and closed it because their friends didn't like me, though they used the excuse that this was 'too vulgar' as a means to lock the thread. Anyway, it's about Akemi Homura going around a new world doing what she does best: being awesome.


Homura Quest

An utter wasteland beholds you. A thousand towers of majesty are now in ruins, each floating above the clouds in a circle around the epicenter of destruction. It is a splendor to view, but a horror to experience.

Debris fly circles around the Beast. With each cackle it shatters the sky. The earth trembles in its passing-

Time stops.  
Nothing moves.  
Everything is frozen in place.  
Your feet move on their own. Each step taken is one calculated over a hundred nights. You have done this before.  
You will do it again.  
Time moves.

-The structure scratches the sky before flying at you. It moves so fast sound is broken and cries in pain in waking terror.

The Beast hungers, but you must keep going. Why?

You cannot dodge. The sands have run dry.

This is the end.

You can see it. Perhaps it is better to give in when faced with an unbeatable foe. No, the Beast is certainly destroyable, but there are other factors involved. What...

You shed a tear. There is nothing left. If you fight, you lose. If you give in, you lose. This is the end. You whimper pathetically. Why...

-Breathe...-

The hairband is agitating. It restricts the head and scratches against your scalp. It is the first to be dropped.

-Breathe, breathe, breathe-  
The shield... The shield.

It is the end and the beginning. You let it go. There is no point in turning it...

...But why not let it loose?  
The sands of time-

...

...

...

Your eyes shoot open. You are wide awake. Every part of your body aches. Your vision is blurry. On instinct, you flip out of bed-why are you in bed in the first place?-and jump out onto the wooden floor.

Wooden floor?

Uh... What's going on?

Who are you? Where are you? Your eyes dart around, but you only see blurs. It is a clean but small room. Tiny. You feel restricted. Your muscles ache.

"Che..." You gasp in pain as your knees give in and you fall into a heap. You cry out, "Ahh!"

It sounds more like a whimper, even to your ears. You look down and see that one of your legs is injured. It is bleeding slightly, but it is numb.

There is something heavy on your left wrist.

It is shield strapped to your arm.

There is a tiny hourglass inside it. The hourglass is empty. You wonder what this shield is and why is it on your arm. You can't seem to be able to remove it.

Click click click.

Something is poking one of the windows.

[ ] What to do?

[x] Gnaw the arm off. It's not your arm. It's someone else's arm.

You attempt to gnaw 'it' off. But your jaw is too weak. Instead, it is more like you are nibbling on your shirt. Dress. Dress shirt? It is a very durable piece of cloth, nevertheless. Your teeth don't even leave a mark, though you do feel your teeth a little through it.

You're pretty sure it's your arm now. Ow.

[X] Take a quick glance about the room. Assuming you're alone, look to the window.

You glance around. It is a small room. Probably less than 4 square meters. There's a small bed on one side. There is a small desk on the other. There is a small wooden chair. At least, you think it's a wooden chair.

There's something large and brown outside the window. It looks like it's hitting against the window. Tapping? You squint and you think it's some kind of bird. Is it peaking the window?

Examine surroundings for familiarity and then see what the hell is at the window and why.

You see a pair of red glasses on the floor. The room is otherwise empty. There is a door on the opposite side of the window. Now that you think about it, it looks like the roof is slanted. Are you in an attic? It smells old.

Go to the window carefully and open it, keep shield at the ready to defend ourself from the bird if it attacks.

You try to stand up, but fall down. Ow. Ow. Ow.

You think you twisted something.

You crawl towards the window. There is a latch on it. It looks dusty. Outside of the window, you see water dripping... is it raining? Are you sure you want to open the window?

[x] Let bird in. Do not smash, we have prior experience with animals not staying dead anyway and smashing makes a mess.

Prior experience?

You don't have any experience of anything.

Though... you probably have amnesia! That's probably right.

You open the window.

The bird barks a hoot. Ah... it's probably an owl, right? It clips you with its wing and lands on the desk, where it drops a letter.

That's not normal!

It looks _down_ at you expectantly.

Tell the bird to pick that letter back up and bring it to us, also ask if it knows anything about us that we just can't remember at the moment, like our name.

"_Can you give me the letter here?_" You ask. Your voice is very hoarse. When was the last time you drank? Cross that, when was the last time you spoke?

The owl (?) looks down at you strangely and cocks its head. It doesn't seem to understand you. Maybe it doesn't speak Japanese?

[X]Vel's. That birds gotta die. Maybe try reaching into the shield. see what happens.

The shield sparkles. SPARKLES! Then it turns into a little ring on your middle finger. How strange.

[X] Pat bird on head.  
[X] Read letter.  
[x] Confirm age, gender and appearance as far as can be done without a mirror

You attempt to pet the bird on the head, but accidentally slip in your own blood and twist the bird (owl?)'s neck. It falls on the ground with a loud croak and a soft thud.

You crawl up to the desk and open the letter. It seems to be in English or some other language that uses letters of that kind. The font is kind of small and you have a hard time reading it.

You reach down and touch yourself, oh, yeah, definitely a girl.

You are definitely a girl. Age? How do you determine age? Eh... You don't know.

Moving on!

[X]Tend to injury so we don't have to crawl, put on glasses, read letter.

You don't know what to use to tend to the injury or how to do it.

The glasses are a lot of help however. They seem to fit just right. You like the color too. It looks...? You wonder how it looks on you.

There are two pages in the envelope.

The first one reads:

_Dear Homura Akemi,_  
_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._  
_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_  
_Deputy Headmistress_

The second page reads:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM_  
_First-year students will require:_  
_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_  
_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_  
_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_  
_4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_  
_Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

_COURSE BOOKS_  
_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_  
_by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic_  
_by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory_  
_by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_  
_by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_  
_by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions_  
_by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_  
_by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_  
_by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand_  
_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_  
_1 set glass or crystal phials_  
_1 telescope_  
_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad._

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS_

_ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus_  
_Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions_

So... your name is Homura Akemi?

[X] Who's Homura Akemi? Is it you? You have a feeling you should know who Akemi Homura is, but Homura Akemi? Maybe they meant Akemi Homura?

Also. Witches. WITCHES! You know that word is code for something truly despicable. Despicable. The word itself is bad.

Ugh.

Your head hurts.

You do dislike witches. Why? It's just a word. You're pretty sure you never even heard it being used in English before in your life. Why are you feeling like you want to choke a witch?

Akemi Homura, Homura Akemi... hm...

[X] Eat the owl. Not much of a motherfucking ninja it turned out to be. Doesn`t matter. Survival of the fittest.

Ew.

You don't feel like you want to know where that owl has been, even if you were starving.

[X] Get the birds corpse and use the chair to hobble back to the window, toss corpse out window.  
[X] Get back in bed and lay down to rest.  
[X] See how we are at speaking English instead of Japanese.

You try to get on the chair. It's probably easier just tossing the corpse out, but you don't have any strength. The chair tips over and you fall face first into the bird's breast and wings. It's very wet and icky. You quickly recoil.

After some crawling and pushing, you lobbed the corpse out of the window. Now you're partly wet. Maybe it's better to close the window.

You crawl onto the bed. It is hard and you can feel the springs poking your back.

"Ei, yi, aye, oh, ew..." You probably have a pronunciation problem, but you think you could... get by.

[X] check for injuries to self.

Other than a broken leg and some injuries on your back, you seem to be relatively well. Well, maybe not "well", but not bleeding and broken at least. You feel very exhausted.

[X] You feel the need to shoot something, anything when hearing about Witches and Familiars. But you don't have a gun yet and you instinctively realize that you should and start tapping the ring on your middle finger.

Why would you want to shoot things? That's dangerous!

You nervously tap the strange ring. Nothing seems to be happening. Tap it again?

[X] Try and get a better look outside. See what's around us.\

It looks like a city. It looks very old. It's hard to see through the rain.

The English use bloody as an expletive don't they? Well, then that's appropriate because this _bloody_ leg of yours still hurts!

[X] Bloody well do something about that bloody leg of yours.

"Bloody hurts," you grumble monotonously.

The leg seems to be setting in awkwardly. It might need to be broken again. And again. And again... until it can be set right, right? Why do you know this? _How do you know this?_

[X] Homura can't read english, right?

You can read the letter. Why else would you feel something deep within you burn from the mere mentioning of the word 'witch'?

[x] Devote our attention to making sure our leg sets correctly.

Ow.

Ow!

Ow! Ow! Ow!

...ow...

It must have taken you the whole night, but when you were done and everything seemed correct, the rain had stopped and some light shone through the window.

[X] Though you wish you knew, and somehow you figure that the ring is a part of it. But now is not the time to figure mystery's out, that bone needs to be set in correctly.

Follow what your instincts tell you and survive... like you always have done and will continue to do so until... you... accomplish... something.

The ring does look rather pretty. Why do you feel so conflicted about it?

[X] Now that you've recovered from your temporary bout of DESPAIR (which, for some reason, you assumed wouldn't quite be temporary), it's time to get to the bottom of things.\  
[X] First, food. It's disgusting to eat the owl _raw_, but maybe if you cook it ... ?  
[X] If that's too much for you, raid the fridge. All that healing must have taken a lot out of you - the sensible voice in your head says so, so it must be true!  
[X] After that, prioritize: Food, safety, shelter. Now that we've secured food, time for safety. Witches don't exactly strike you as being friendly for some reason, so you must take measures to survive them.

[X]Which means messing with the ring again. Try and poke the ring with your mind a bit more, see what happens.

The ring turned into a tiny, ornate egg-shaped jewel. It is glowing as if there are hundreds of tiny fireflies inside it. It is very purple.

You can't find the owl outside of your window. It has disappeared.

You open the door out of the room, only to find a small bathroom and a stair case downwards. When you peer down, you see that the stairs only lead to a door out of this place. There is a pair of shoes at the door. They look like they would fit you.

There is no fridge in sight.

You do feel a little hungry.

[X]After you do all of the above search the house for a weapon, something blunt like a golf club or a baseball bat. You feel comfortable wielding those for some reason.

You search through this... apartment. It seems to be a kind of condominium. There are no weapons in this place. It is currently empty. Behind the stairs leading down from the bedroom and the bathroom, there is a small living room and a small kitchen. Both are empty.

[X] Look for a shower and a toothbrush and maybe a change of clothes. Hygiene is not optional.

You found a change of clothes in the bathroom. There is a small shower, but there is no soap. There is no toothbrush or toothpaste either. The water seems to be working, but electricity is out. You found yourself shivering in a cold water shower.

After you have cleaned yourself, you find yourself standing before the mirror.

It is a very old and worn mirror, and it has many scratches on it. You are able to see your reflection in it well enough, however.

[X] You decide that to prevent other people from becoming confused, you shall henceforth introduce yourself as Homura Homura.

You sigh, "homu..."

You try to smile at the mirror, but you fail. You can't seem to work up an expression. You feel empty.

[X] The glasses aren't quite working for you. Do you really need them?  
[X] Your hair is kind of in the way. Let's flip it out of the way. Did that look right? Maybe? Right, we need to practice hair flipping in front of the mirror for a bit.

You take off your glasses and find yourself seeing things clearly.

You have a lot of hair. You flip it out of the way _elegantly_.

[X] Poking the ring... jewel thing with our mind is interesting, but now to see what happens if we do the opposite (because science).  
[X] Pretend that - no matter how illogical it sounds - our mind is inside it, and poke the brainmeats with our mind.

You poke the jewel. It sparkles some more...

_Flash!_

The shield is back on your hand. Your outfit seems to have changed a bit too.

[X] Hm ... search the house for something to eat.  
[X] In fact, search the house from top to bottom. See what you can find.

There is nothing to eat here, other than wooden furniture. The house is empty.

[X] Try to jog your memory. Were you a witchhunter? Will you acquire a gun that will allow you to blow up mountains?

... Why does that idea not seem so far-fetched?

You can't remember anything. After sitting around for a couple of minutes, you give up trying to remember. Your head is starting to hurt.

[X] Come to think of it, aren't first names just supposed to be used among those close to you?

Obviously, you can't have people calling you by your first name twice. It's creepy.

You guess you'll just make them call you by your surname.

You shrug. You don't really remember why you think the way you do.

Obviously, having people call you by your name twice is strange? Is it obvious? You suppose it is then.

"I am Akemi?" You mumble.

[X] Reach inside the shield again, this time on trying to keep it a shield with your mind.

For a moment, everything seems to have changed from technicolor to black and white. But that might just be your imagination. You reached inside, but nothing is happening...

_Click!_

A little hole opens at the center of the shield. A candy bar, a packet of gum, a rubber band, three paper clips, and two, red ribbons drop out. You think you've seen all of this before. The ribbons smell nice.

The candy bar is half eaten and there is only one stick of gum left.

[X] Put the stuff back in the shield. Clearly, we'll need it to get the Babel Fish later.

"...Babel Fish?" You mutter, confused.

[X] We have S-Class hair flipping skills so tying our hair back isn't important. But the ribbons...might be important? Maybe we can tie them around our side bangs.

You tie the pretty ribbons on. You feel like you are not alone.

[X]Put on a hair ribbon. Break off the part of the bar that is bitten then eat the rest. Walk outside to see the neighborhood.

"Mm," the chocolate melts in your mouth. You feel sated.

[X] More pertinently, does Homura have any money?

Your pockets are empty.

[X] Stop. You'll go over this again later, when your head's fine.

For now, just practice with the nifty shield you got.

The shield seems to be a bottomless hole, but strangely enough, when you want something that you know is inside, that thing pops out.

[X] You're Akemi Homura.

Now that that identity crisis is over with... ah, but you don't remember anything about yourself other than your name.

[X] Eat the Candy bar and save the gum for later then go out and search for some real food.

You wander outside.

Where ever you are, it is a very dreary city. The sky is always grey and people never stop moving. Everyone seems to have something to do.

You see a subway station with the symbol for "London Underground."

Across the street, there is a rather loud pub that all passerby seem to be ignoring, called the "Leaky Cauldron".

They won't be worth much if anything at all.

[X] Go to the Leaky Cauldron see why everyone is ignoring it.

You walk inside the pub, wonder why all the busy people are ignoring such a strange pub. It seems to stand out in the city as the one place that isn't completely dull.

When you walk inside, you find yourself in a different world. Everyone was dressed as if they were homeless people who haven't bathed in months if not years. They all wear thick cloaks and strange hats. No one seems to be paying any attention to you though a few did turn your way for a moment before dismissing you as nothing.

You heard one of the closer homeless people mutter, "...Ruddy chinks..."

[X] Look around, see who's in charge then ask him why everyone's ignoring this place.

You approach the bartender.

"Hello there, lass," He greets you in a friendly fashion, "What can I get you?"

"Why are the people outside ignoring this establishment?" You ask monotonously.

"Ah, you're a muggleborn, I see?" He nods, "That's because there's a spell that makes muggles, er, sorry, folk without magic can't see this place. They will ignore it unless even if you try to get them to pay attention to it. It's a sort of Notice-Me-Not charm that affects only muggles. Now is there anything I can get you?"

"Have you heard of a place called Hogwarts? I got this letter here saying that I've been accepted to it." You ask, pulling out said letter.

[X] "Information. I'm new here, and I don't know much. Can you tell me about Hogwarts and Witches?"

"Can you tell me about Hogwarts?" You ask softly.

"Ah! A new student, eh? You must be pretty talented to get into Hogwarts as a muggleborn. The name's Tom," He points at himself, "I'm the innkeeper around here. Hogwarts the premier school for magic in all of Europe. Only those with the most potent magic can become enrolled... well, that and you can be the child of an alumnus."

"...What of Witches?" You ask.

"Witches? They're girl wizards. You must not know the words being a Chinaman, right?" Tom scratches his head, "Though, since you're new 'round here, I'll give you some friendly advice. Stay out of trouble, you don't want to draw the attention of the... ah, nobility around here. So, are you here to get your Hogwarts' supplies?"

[X] You need information, but food would be good to start. "I'm really hungry, but I don't know if I have any money..."  
[X] Making sure to keep your shield under the counter, you reach into it, thinking about money...

"...Hungry," you mumble. You reach in your shield for money, but nothing comes out.

Tom sighs in sympathy, "Alright, alright, you scamp. Don't give me those kinds of eyes, I got some left over pumpkin pie from lunch you can have." He gives you a plate with a slice of pumpkin pie. "That's all I can spare, I'm afraid, what with the... ah... things going on."

Your about to say yes but you pull out your empty pockets.

You don't have any money.

"Homu..."

"Aye, I already said it, just take it," he shoos you away. You hop onto the bar and start nibbling on the pie instead. He grumbles about children being disrespectful, but smiles slightly.

"Homu homu..." you chew slowly. This pie is still good. The maker added a layer of crumbles on it, making it very tasty, "homu, homu..."

[X] For some reason, the way he said "things going on" makes you tense up and your hand twitches towards the shield, even as you practically inhale the pie. "What do you mean, 'things going on?'"

"What do you mean?" You ask carefully.

Tom looks nervous, "Oh, it's nothing you have to worry over. It'll be over sooner or later anyway..."

"Ah, well... do you have a newspaper then?" You ask as you finish your delicious pie.

"Ah, yes, I do," Tom places a crumbled up newspaper in front of you, "This is today's edition, I think."

It is a newspaper. With moving pictures.

You lift it up, and see that it is actually made of paper. Is this magic?

It is a newspaper called the Daily Prophet. The date is August 1, 1980. The headline is something about a village being moved into another village. You aren't sure how that works, but it's probably magic too.

There are several gossip columns and another piece of news on the third page about a 'Gringotts' Bank' and how it has raised interest rates on several prominent households, causing their homes to be seized by the government.

[X] Ask Tom about Gringott's Bank and see if they can help a starting student like you.

"Eh? Gringotts?" Tom scratches his head, "Nay, the bank is just a bank. Though, Hogwarts does provide a student fund. The school will pay for muggleborn's education and books, and you won't have to pay it off until you graduate. And the interest rate on that isn't very high, only a ten percent rate a year. Books are expensive, you know? You could probably get an allotted amount from the fun at the bank though."

[X] Your eyes start to glaze over as you read about complex finance and property ownership laws. You quickly move on, skimming the gossip columns for any names that spark something.

There is nothing you really notice. There is a gossip column about a magical monkey who could change the color of his... feces. It almost caused your lips to twitch.

[X] Thank Tom for his help and go to Gringotts and access that student fund.

"Alright then, I'll open up the Alley for you," Tom nods.

He presses the Super Secret Combination on the wall and the bricks start moving around until there is a doorway for you to enter. It looks like something from a different era, this alley. The people, the attitude... you feel as if you walked into the industrial era, only that there is magic here too.

The door closes and you immediately find yourself lost.

The closest shops are a book store and a broom store. There is an ice cream shop there too. The alley is very crowded.

[X] Look around do you see anyone you feel is noticeably important?

Most of them all look like homeless people. There is a man walking around as if he owned the place. He has flowing blonde hair and is dressed like Scrooge McDuck, except fancier. He has an ivory cane with a diamond on the handle.

He is walking around, looking at people around he as if they were filth.\

[X] You don't realize it, but you are instinctually scanning the surroundings for threats as you go.

Everything is a threat.

You have a headache again.

Where is Gringotts?

[X] That black and white thing you did before with your shield, do it again!

Maybe it'll help?

You try the black and white thing.

For a moment, it seems as if the world froze. But only for a moment. Maybe about 5 seconds. Then color came back into everything and everything moved again. You try to use it again, but you couldn't use it for 5 seconds. How disconcerting.

What do you want to do with this time freezing device?

[X] Scrooge McDuck over there has the right idea. Vagrants, the lot of them!

"Hmph," You raise your head and strut through the street elegantly.

Stop time and poke Scrooge. Make sure you're out of his sight before the timestop runs out.

You activate your shield as you brush near the rich industrialist man, poke him in the stomach, before moving away to the other direction. When time moved again, an invisible force field flickered at the man's stomach. The man paused, and started waving a little wand around on his person. He turned left and right, as if a little paranoid.

You notice there are a few people looking at you as if you were some kind of circus animal.

You realize that, since time stopped, it looks to them like you just teleported 3 meters down the street.

Maybe you should be a little more careful about using this in crowded areas.

In the meantime, ask a passerby (one of the ones who aren't looking at you funny) where Gringotts is.

You found Gringotts. It is a large building made of marble and stone, with a huge oaken door atop of which has a little rhyme for thieves. There are two short, muscled green things at the door, each wielding a halberd.

They glare at you but do not impede you.

When you get inside, you are blasted with a wave of cool air. It is very comfortable. The lobby looks like a very lavished bank lobby, except with more of those green things working each counter. Some are brown, some are grey, but all are ugly.

They seem to be counting golden coins, fist sized gems, and other such valuables.

All of them look busy, though only about half of them are serving those homeless people. A few of the people in this lobby look very wealthy, like the rich industrialist man outside.

All the weird goblin...things are either ignoring the people around them or (rudely) helping other people, so maybe ask someone waiting in line where you can find the fund? The wealthy-looking people wouldn't need something like that, so see if there are any homeless people (and they aren't homeless if they are in a bank, after all; they are probably just poor) with children that would know about the fund.

You walk up to a redhead couple and ask about this. They point you to a line where there is another 'muggleborn' family looking to get some funds. They were given a Large Sack of Gold after the strange creatures took some of their child's blood.

You are next in line.

"Yes? Another Hogwarts student?" The creature grumbles, "Have your letter of acceptance ready and your proof of identification."

[X] Give him your acceptance letter and await further instructions.

"Hm," He doesn't look at you letter, "Everything seems to be in order."

He then grabs your hand and pokes your thumb on a sharp... thing.

"Ow."

"Don't whine, it's unbecoming," He replies. "Alright, you are... Miss Homura Akemi? Your are allotted 750 Galleons for your first year materials. You are also allowed an extra 50 Galleons for your uniforms and other miscellaneous supplies. Our currency is based on a gold to silver to copper standard. The gold coins are Galleons, the silver ones are Sickles, and the copper ones are Knuts. It's 29 Knuts to a Sickle and 17 Sickles to a Galleon. Each Galleon is worth approximately 50 English Pounds."

He hands you a Sack of Gold. Each coin is at least half the size of your palm, but somehow, all of them fit inside the bag.

"Go on, you have 7 years until interest starts accruing," He growls. "If interest payments are not made within three months, Gringotts will come and collect."

You are rushed out of the bank since your business is done.

The alley seems to have many shops. Where to go first?

[ ] Wand Shop  
[ ] Clothes Shop  
[ ] Book Shop  
[ ] Write-in

Since you don't really know where everything is all that well, why don't you see if that nice readhead couple from before is still around and ask if you can tag along?

They seem to have gone inside the bank. Inside the inside.

[X] Wand Shop

You walk to the Wand Shop.

There is a sign above it saying "_Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C._" and it looks well respected on the outside.

On the inside, it looks like an old shoe store from the industrial era, if the shoe store grew ten times in size. There is no one else here, or so you think.

"Ah, a new student," An old man says from behind you.

You nearly jump out of your skin in surprise. The next two seconds was like a blur-one moment you were crouched and the next, you spun around and nearly took the old man's head off with a kick. You hesitated at the last moment, regaining your consciousness, and pulled back just enough to miss his head by a hair. Actually, several strands of his hair were cut by your kick.

You also sort of maybe kind of... kicked through the hinge of the door and knocked it half off, shattering the glass on it.

"Oh my, this is the most... ah, violent display of surprise I have seen in a while," the old man mutters. "Nevertheless, _Reparo_," he waved a wand at the door, causing it to fix itself. "You are... Akemi Homura, right? And here for your wand then? Come here, which hand do you use?"

"I..."

He waved a hand and several measuring tapes start molesting you while he looks through his merchandise, "Hm, try this. Go on, give it a flick." He gives you a wand.

Before you do anything, he takes it away, "No, no. You are a strange one. Try..."

...Thirty minutes and a large stack of wands later, the man, Ollivander grumbles down at you in frustration.

He sighs and seems to understand something. Turning to you, he mutters mysteriously, "No wand will choose you... because you are already chosen. Interesting that." While you has your attention, he takes one of the ribbons in your hair. He takes a sniff of it. For some reason, this causes something within you to boil with rage. But he continues, "Yes, this will do. Whoever gave you this ribbon... whatever it is made of... must be very powerful. The wand chooses the wielder! And the wand, in a sense, has the same mindset of that which donated the core. I can use this to make a wand for you."

You found your hands clenching, as if choking an old man and taking a ribbon...

"What wood would be best?" Ollivander mutters without looking at you. "Why don't you try? Feel my samples, if you will."

You are given several blocks of wood. What feels best? What kind of wood connects with you most? Does this even matter?

[ ] holly  
[ ] ebony  
[ ] cedar  
[ ] rosewood  
[ ] mahogany  
[ ] yew  
[ ] elder  
[ ] don't put my ribbon in a piece of wood!

[X] Touch your ribbon lightly, as to reassure yourself.

You feel calmer.

Urge to kill falling. Depression falling. Madness falling.

You touch the ribbon lightly again, as if thinking of better times, even though there are no other times you can remember.

[X] Before we pick anything, what are the...'Meanings' of those types of wood?

"Eh, meanings?" Ollivander smiles, "Very few children your age ask this of me. Holly is a very life oriented wood. It is good for casting spells that bring life to things. Yew is the opposite. It is very destructive. Elder is a kind of wood that is good for transfigurations. It is a very powerful kind of wood. Rosewood is warmer than the others, so it will make a more loyal wand. Cedar is quick. Mahogany is good for charms and Ebony is good for curses. Now I can't lecture all day, or else I might as well become an author on such things. So what feels best to you?"

[X] Your gaze drifts to the floorboards.

"..."

"Hello? Miss Akemi?"

"..."

"Well?"

"..."

[X] Yew

"Ah, yew. That is a powerful wood. It can make powerful things happen, but that all depends on the wielder's morals. Even the wand is only as powerful as its wielder." He tries to take the ribbon, only to notice that it is in your hands. "Ah..."

You stare at the ribbon.

"Ahem, Miss Akemi?"

"...Be gentle with it?" You whimper as he hold out the ribbon with both hands.

Ollivander blinks, "Of course. I am a professional, after all."

He takes it and goes into the back room. "I will return in a few short minutes, Miss Akemi. Have no fears, I treat all my customers the same, your wand will have just as much care as anyone else's."

You sit there patiently, waiting. After a few minutes, another girl walked into the shop.

She has blonde hair, in curls down to her chest and looks very... regal, like one of those rich people walking the streets. From her clothes, she clearly grew up amongst them too. And she couldn't be older than you either. Before she says anything, Ollivander returns.

He hands you a box with a wand inside.

You stare open it and stare at the wand.

"It's pink."

"Yes, I can see that too, Miss Akemi," Ollivander shrugs.

"...Pink."

"Ahem, yes, very well," Ollivander carries on. "Your core is a very find material, if I say so myself. I can feel the power of the wand radiating even from behind the counter. Very... loving. Very warm. Hopeful too, more so than it is powerful. Go on, give it a wave."

The moment you touch it, it feels as if an angelic being has come down from heaven and hugged you from behind. But that can't be real. You turn around and see nothing. What a strange illusion. Your hand feels warm, even now as you hold the wand. It feels as if instead of you hold it, it was caressing you. You give it a wave.

A shower of pink arrows shoot out of it, before splitting up and turning into more sparkles. It is so bright, you avert your eyes.

"Bravo, Miss Akemi," Ollivander claps. "That will be 50 Galleons." He then turns to the new girl, "Hello and welcome, Miss Butler, I will be with you in a moment."

You are conflicted... Robes, Apothecary, or to stay and watch... what to do?

[X] Actually, I don't think there are **any** named HP characters in our year. Bill's two years younger than us, if we're starting in 1980, and everyone's parents that we've met in the books are older. We're kind of in the "between" generation relative to the book characters.

In your indecision, you decide to stick around to see another wand selection. It is very boring. The girl tried less than ten wands before finding hers. It is a Willow wand with Unicorn Hair core.

She turns to you, "What are you looking at? It's not funny, okay?" Then she turns to Ollivander, "Mr. Ollivander, you aren't holding back on me are you? Why does that girl have a powerful wand when I have... have this?"

"Now, all wands are equal," Ollivander began to lecture. "Her core has greater resonance and a greater bond with her than-"

"Where can I get that?" The girl demands.

Ollivander shrugs, "I wouldn't know, Miss Butler."

"Hm," The girl frowns, "Alright, fine, but can I trade this in for a different wand? Maybe Oak? With Dragonheartstring?"

Ollivander frowns back at her. He grumbles, "I always say that the wand chooses the wielder, and this is what I mean. No other wand will fit you, not like this anyway."

"Then how do I get a wand like that?" The girl asks.

Ollivander strokes his chin, "In a real duel, it is possible for a wizard to make another wand his by defeating the wielder utterly, but you should work with what you have."

Before the girl could say anything, an explosion rocks the alley.

You look outside and see at least ten people with black cloaks and white masks teleporting into the alley. They are shouting something about killing all muggleborns.

"Oh dear," Ollivander mutters, "Alright children, shop is closed. T-this... you'd best run along to home now, before those men come knocking on my door." He ushers you out before closing down.

The men are all casting beams of green light everywhere. It seems to cause people to faint or something.

[X] You are curious, do all wands do that? You'll stay a bit, half to watch and half to plan what order to shop by. And while pink, you do very much like your wand.

You feel your wand hum in your palm. Warmth envelops you like a thin blanket, as if saying that ... ... ... you are not alone?

Are they close enough together that we can steal all their wands in five seconds?

They are actually over twenty meters away. There are a lot of people here in the alley and they are taking their time. They don't seem to care who is running away. Do they have friends somewhere else too?

[X] Would an Avada Kedavra jump to the soul gem and kill us, or would it just drop the gem/body connection for a bit?

Avada Ka-what?

[X] You grab the blonde girl and drag her into an alleyway.

She complains loudly, "Hey! What are you doing? Let go!" She pulls out of your grasp as soon as you are hidden from the main road. "It's not like those men will attack a pureblood like me, but I suppose to someone like you, that would be scary, wouldn't it?" She puts up a front of false bravado. She stutters as she says that and you can see her lips and fingers quivering.

"Well, well, well, more mudbloods trying to run," A deep voice calls from behind you. You turn around and see another man with a black cloak and a white mask. You also see two boys at his feet, along with someone who looks like their father. "And girls this time too? I can have some... fun."

"H-hey, I'm not a-" The blonde protests, but she is interrupted by a flash of light. It glances her cheek and leaves a shallow cut.

"Now, now," you could hear the man smirking from behind the mask. He is breathing heavily. "The Dark Lord won't mind a stray or two." He levels his wand at the two of you, "This is the first time I've had... Chinese."

Chinese? A small part of your mind wonders where this Chinese person is at before another part reminds you that he probably means you.

"Now," He starts to say...

[x] Stop time and steal his wand, then punch him in the face.

ONE

You take two steps forward. Your legs move with a grace that is trained not only into your body but into your mind and soul. You have no idea where this skill comes from, but it is honed like a razor sharp edge. For someone your age, there are very few who are better. With your eleventh step, you have crossed the ten meter barrier and reached the man.

TWO

Adrenaline pumps. You snatch his wand from his hands, ripping it out of his fingers. His pinky cracks. It is broken.

THREE

You spin around and punch him, but he is too tall. Instead of trying to break his nose, even with your extended reach, you only hit his throat. It is soft and you push deep.

FOUR

You jump.

FIVE

In another attempt, your fist flies down. His cheek bone and nose are harder than you think. Your fist hurts even as you feel the cartilage crunch behind your knuckles.

_...start..._

The man makes half of a gurgling noise before falling to the ground. Blood drips out of his nose and he chokes on his own saliva. Or he is choking because his throat was punched in for the briefest of moments.

You turn away from him elegantly, moving on instinct rather than being guided by your consciousness, and flip your hair back. You stop just outside of his reach and say in an eerily flat tone, "I am Japanese."

"Hukgharghh..." The man replies while clutching his throat.

The blonde girl blinks at you, "Wha..." You see tears at the corner of her eyes, not yet spilled. She seems to be in shock.

The man tries to grab at you, but misses.

You turn around, somewhat stunned at what you have done. What happened? How did you do that... no, how did you know how to do that?

You feel numb.

Do you say something to the man? Do you say something to the girl? Or perhaps it is time to leave...

You kick the man a few times until you don't really hear any grunts from him anymore. You are pretty sure he is out now.

It's a pretty wand, you think. It has an ivory handle with gold engraved on it. There is also a name craved in gold here. "Luscious Mallfuey," you try to pronounce the name. You slip the wand into your shield.

"What?" The blonde gasps.

You blink at her and tilt your head at her curiously. "Stop that."

"What?" She nearly shrieks as you walk closer to her.

"We should leave," you mutter with an elegant flip of your hair, "And please stop saying what."

"What?!" She doesn't resist as you pull her away...

...Right into a group of the masked men. More of them. There are three of them. Two are turned away from you, levitating an old couple in the air, and the third is facing you. But the third man is not looking at you because he is looting one of the bodies. At the sound of the blonde girl's cry, he looks up and fumbles for his wand.

"Stop it," you growl at the blonde through gritted teeth. This is getting annoying. You haven't even finished your shopping yet!

[X] Experiment with the Shield's Storage

You pause. Adrenaline still pumps within you. The pretty uniform covers you again. You reach into your shield with your mind...

Something violent. Something deadly. Something...

The man's wand is level, and he yells, "STUPEFY!" A bolt of red light flies. It flies high and misses you by almost half a meter.

...You keep searching.

_Click._

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

Six balls drop out, and you instinctively flick them on. Your eyes widen. These are six grenades. No, one of them is a flashbang. Whatever the case, they are live.

"Che," you scoff. Your heart beats quickly. Time freezes and you almost let out a sigh right then. The blonde, whose wrist you are still clenching, does not seem to be frozen. You have no time!

ONE

Kick, kick-

TWO

Kick, kick-

THREE

Kick, kick-

FOUR

You grab the girl and let your instincts guide you. Run. Escape! Jump... you hop so quickly. This should not be possible! You are on top of a three story building-

FIVE

-Oh, no. Jump-

**BOOM!**

The entire alley is shaken as a bright light flashes outward. The blonde, who you are carrying on your shoulder, cries out as she stares into the flashbang's effect. "Ahh!" She moans. She tries to rub her eyes pitifully.

You turn around and see a smoking crater...

...Do you think you could complete the whole shopping list by the end of the day?

From where you stand, you see several other groups of black robed men scramble. Several make loud popping noises-no, whatever noise they did make, you cannot hear it, being so close to the blast radius. It is just surprising that you are alive.

And you killed three men.

You notice that the old couple have fallen on the ground, and have yet to get back up. Upon a closer inspection, you note three blackened corpses still remaining. There are barely anything left of them.

Very few masked men remained.

Just as the last popped away, uniformed men and women popped in. They seem to be cleaning up the mess the masked men made.

"Come with me if you want to live," you say to the girl on your shoulder. She tenses up, but nods meekly.

_You just killed three to five people._

You ignore this train of thought and hop away. After going some distance and coming to a darker alleyway, you drop the blonde on the ground lightly. She peers up at you quietly and holds back a whimper.

"Now," You say slowly as you find the words to express what you want to say in English. "What was that all about?"

"...W-what?" The blonde trembles.

You frown. "Stop it."

"Wha-what?"

"Stop saying 'what'," You sigh. "Do you speak English?"

"Wha-ah-of course I do!" She hisses indignantly before she seems to remember the situation she is in. For some reason, she is really afraid of you.

"Then stop it," you growl.

"What?" She asks.

You grip her shoulders, "Say 'what' again, I dare you." You utter monotonously.

"Eeep!" She shrieks, "Please don't kill me?" She shuts her eyes tightly.

You realize you should be more gentle to someone like her. She is probably just your age. Though, you think you could handle being rough handled. Still, a girl like her does not know what she is doing. For some reason, her attitude irritates you, but you try to be gentler. "Tell me about the masked men," you begin.

It was a ten minute explanation the blonde girl gave.

She seems to have a naive way of looking at things, and she probably doesn't know the depths of what is occurring, but she gives you the basics. There is a war going on in 'magical' Britain. (She thinks it is foolish to call 'Britain' 'Magical Britain' because it is just Britain, but you made her do it for the sake of the explanation. She grumbled something about muggleborns before explaining.) An evil Dark Lord named Voldemort has popped up a while ago and many of the rich and powerful are flocking towards him. He is idealistic, but has the attitude of killing all non-magical people. You think it is probably more complicated than that but the girl wouldn't know.

Voldemort's shock troops are called Death Eaters. The ones that routinely carry out raids like that one you just experienced are usually new recruits lead by a member of the 'Inner Circle'. This is supposed to be common knowledge according to the way the girl is acting.

Supposedly, the war will never reach Hogwarts because a man named Albus Dumbledore is protecting it. She thinks he is crazy, though she thinks you are crazy too. The uniformed folk who came later are called Aurors. They are supposed to be the policing force, but they never arrive on time because according to the blonde, "The Death Eaters are too smart and quick for them."

She looks at you curiously, but holds back her questions. She is looking with an interested gleam in her eye, at your shield and wand.

[X] Character Sheet

Akemi Homura  
Age: 11 (?)

Skills:

Innate Instinct – (D-)  
Akemi Homura has many skills that she has earned through judicious amounts of hard work and magic. She is able to instinctively fight hand-to-hand combat with skill equal to that of a master of a single form of lethal martial arts. Due to this, her movements are instinctively graceful and elegant.

Puella Magi – (D- to EX)  
It is uncertain what the limit of a Puella Magi is, but there is no current limit on their growth. Akemi Homura is capable of achieving this form at any time with the use of her Jewel Seed. It currently allows her to increase her strength, dexterity, and constitution to over ten times her current ability. Through past training, Akemi Homura's body has learned to control this form as well as if she were in her mundane form without any notable changes.

Shield – (B+)  
Akemi Homura has one trump card. This is her shield of storage and timejumping. It has an hourglass that is currently empty, but it is suspected of having greater power if the hourglass is filled. Currently it can hold an unlimited amount of items within, which can be called forth with Akemi Homura's mind. The shield can also pause time for 5 seconds, on command. There is a 5 second delay for this effect to occur again afterwards.

Inventory:

Big Sack 'o Gold (750 Galleons)  
Pink Yew Wand with Ribbon Core  
Lucius Malfoy's Wand

Inventory within Shield:

Stick of Gum (1?)  
Rubber Band (1?)  
Paper Clip (1?)  
M67 Grenade (?)  
M84 Stun Grenade (?)  
? (?)

[X] Questions

"What is Hogwarts?" You ask quietly.

"Wha-er, I mean, it's a school, of magic. Surely you know that," She stumbles on her own words. The blonde then continues, "It's the best school in Europe, probably the world."

You blink, "And what else? Why is it the best?"

"Why? The most powerful people in the world come from Hogwarts, of course! Dumbledore, Voldemort, Grindelwald, the Founders... bloody hell, they say even Merlin visited Hogwarts when it was young." She giggles as if you said a joke. "Ha... ha... ha?" She stops laughing, realizing that you are not joking. "Oh Merlin, you're not joking."

Merlin. You know that name. It's an icon. You think of long-bearded old men in thick robes following around little boys while holding a big staff and telling them to pull on their sword. That... that is strange. Maybe you have the wrong name?

"I... I don't know what to say," the blonde shrugs, "It's got some of the best professors in the world, before the World War II. Albus Dumbledore is still teaching there occasionally. It is also a living castle, or so they say. It's supposed to be one of the safest places in the world, really!"

"I see," you realize she does not know much about it either. You tilt your head at her questioningly. This seems to cause her anxiety. She moves back slightly on the ground, but she is already against the wall. You found this almost amusing, so you turned with a flip of your luscious hair.

"Wha-where are you going?" The girl asks, "Who are you? What are you?" She is unable to contain her curiosity.

"I am going to go... shopping," you reply dramatically. With a final, elegant flip of your side bangs, you add, "I am not sure who I am either."

With that, you strut out of the alleyway, into a place called Knock Turn Alley.

There is an apothecary here. It looks very rundown. There is also a pawn shop called Borgin and Burkes'. There are several pubs even dirtier than the Leaky Cauldron, dozens of residential buildings, and several stores without any window displays or titles.

You seem to be about 50 meters from the exit of the alley. There are about twenty people milling around. Several of them are paying attention to you. Two of them are old looking hags, who are slowly approaching you from your sides. There is one man who is playing with a knife, licking his lips, and staring at your legs.

[X] Flashy

The elegance of your movements is better than any flash. You might need to train up that elegance to a move acceptable level, considering how you are only doing thus instinctively. Still, you do have class.

You walk into the Apothecary unbothered, so far.

It is dry inside, but you are also greeted with a thick smell. It is a mixture of many scents. There is a pudgy, middle-aged man sitting at the counter, reading the newspaper. He doesn't seem to be paying any attention to you. "Welcome to the Icky Beetle, where you can buy all sorts of ingredients," he mutters dully without any effort. "Standard kits for Hogwarts students have already been measured out, just pick up a box and come to the counter."

There are some other "potions" on sell, though you aren't sure how much they cost because there is no tag. There is some kind of a minor luck potion, minor clarity potion, and a minor truth serum. There is also something called a "pepper up" potion here, as well as "skele-grow" and "calming draught". There are some more obscure things in the back too, but you can't make out the names because they are written in a strange form of writing known as "doctor's handwriting". At least, it is what "doctor's handwriting" evolved from.

There is a box of materials, along with a small cauldron, lined up on one side of the store, labeled "first year potions class, Hogwarts". It looks very badly packaged. Actually, everything in this room look like something out of the 1700's, though you do hope that these ingredients are preserved by magic or something. The price tag on this small package is about 20 Galleons.

There are also a few magazines on a small stack. Potion's Monthly, Rare Ingredients of the World, Brewer's Weekly, and Potions Journals. There are no books here. The magazines are not labeled with prices either.

"A customer cannot inspect your goods?" You ask slowly, "What is the price for Rare Ingredients of the World?"

"Eh? What?" He looks up upon hearing your voice. "It's ah, no, just most of the people in Knockturn are the untrustworthy kind, you know what I mean? And it's ah... two, no, three galleons for the magazines." He eyes you like a wolf would a sheep.

[x] "Three galleons? I presume they can be found elsewhere. I ask out of curiosity, and do not believe they are worth such a sum of gold. I will offer three sickles. Is this acceptable, shopkeeper?"

"Fwe," the fat man spat, "this is the newest information and good practicals! There are only 10,000 copies printed all over the world, yearly! That's not only useful, but also a collector's item! ...I won't go lower than 1 Galleon."

You feel like he is starting to tell some boldfaced lies. He hasn't answered your first question, and foesnt look like he will either.

"I am weak to collectors editions," you say monotonously. Your voice is deadpan. "I am concerned why there are so many printed. I offer you five sickles. I do not feel as interested in this exchange as before."

"Many? You think this is low numbers?" he gapped exaggeratedly. "There are over one million brewers worldwide! A lot of this information could be of use even years from now! ...10 sickles."

You frown and tilt your head at him slowly.

"...8 sickles, no lower!"

"...Let us make a deal," you offer carefully. "For one Galleon, I buy a copy of Rare Ingredients and Potions Monthly." You then add, "And you will inform me where I might go should I acquire rare ingredients I do not personally require."

"Alright, alright, you're getting this and a _first year set_?" He looks at you questioningly, "I, ah... fine. You go to the Shaggin' Hag if you want to pawn off reagents. There's usually prospective buyers there. Or you can try one of the potions supplies in Diagon Alley if you want the standard price. By that, I mean you get taxed. Now is that all?"

You leave with two magazines, cauldron (pewter, standard size 2), 1 set glass or crystal phials, 1 set brass scales, and some basic potions ingredients. And 21 less Galleons. The shopkeep kindly shrinks the cauldron for you.

You think you'd like to learn how to do that.

Now you just need to grab your books, a telescope, and your clothes and you should be set. There is, of course, the problem with you still missing your memories. And the wreckage left by the Death Eaters.

The magazine Potions Monthly is a periodical which contains the latest news on potions masters around the world. There are 5 people listed in the August Edition, of which one is from Britain, a man named Severus Snape. He is being credited for creating a new method of brewing Pepper Up potions so that the effect occurs twice as quickly and lasts almost twice as long. There are also a Chinese potions master, a Brazilian potions master, and two African potions masters introduced. The periodical also tries to talk in depth about the potions each of these people made, but it uses a lot of fancy, technical terms that fly right over your head, even if English were your first language.

The 'magazine' Rare Ingredients of the World is not so much a periodical but an encyclopedia. It is updated every year, and this year's edition is over 1000 pages. It is very heavy and very large. You almost couldn't fit it into the shield.

[X] Books

Flourish and Blott's is one of the few shops in Diagon Alley completely untouched by the devastation, while still being within the area of which the Death Eaters attacked. It is a small shop with the interior size of all but a large living room. It was lined with books on all sides, stacks and stacks of them in neat piles, but all of these books were encased behind a glass display. There were no books for you to come in and read. There were several chairs laid around the cases, as if it were a fancy jewelery store rather than a bookstore.

There were two men, one at the door and one at the back of the room, who were dressed in white robes lined with black. They seemed to also be wearing badges saying "Hit Wizard Security".

A wizened man in a set of heavy, blue robes approach you as you enter. He smiles, "Welcome to Flourish and Blott's, I am the proprietor but you can call me Mr. Blott. How may I help you today?"

You hand him the Hogwarts letter silently.

"Ah, of course," He nods, "The first year's set. Very good, shall we begin?"

"What is the cost of the whole set," You ask.

He blinks and replies, "Why it should come out to be just about 100 Galleons." Which would be a little less than 5,000 English Pounds. You tilt your head in surprise.

"Let us get started shall we?" He wanders into the back room and comes back with a small, ornate box. He opens it and takes out a small, thin notebook sized text titled _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_. His hands treat the book delicately, as if it would break at any moment. It is a simple, leather bound book and he flips through each page with delicate care, showing you just enough of the chapters and the texts to show that it is legitimate. "Very useful, especially for the beginning mage. It covers the basic philosophy behind spell casting, as well as the simple Charms and Jinxes that can be learned quickly. It introduces the reader to how to properly hold a wand and how to properly cast spells... this book a good foundation for all wizards... and witches like you, of course."

As he shows you the book, you find yourself shivering at Mr. Blott's voice. His tone fills with such delight at displaying the knowledge within his books that you found yourself forgetting about the world for the briefest of moments. Then you crash back to reality as he says the word 'witch'.

[ ] Perhaps you should hurry up and get all the books?  
[ ] Stay and listen to him introduce each book.  
[ ] Do you have some questions for Mr. Blott?  
[ ] Write-in.

You end up spending the rest of the morning with Mr. Blott, listening to him introduce each book, learning about the basics of what you would need to know.

For example, the Potions text has a section on proper care of potions equipment, but it is in the very last section of the book. Just preceding this is a small index of quick tips that are listed through out the book, such as the different names of Aconite. Mr. Blott mentions that potions teachers usually use these little pieces of trivia to test if students actually flipped through their books before hand at the beginning of the year, to see if they are really dedicated to learning the art.

Potions Masters are, according to Mr. Blott, a prideful lot.

Once Mr. Blott got started, he doesn't stop. You think he is very passionate about his profession, or just books in general. In the end, he paused only because it was time for the store to close for lunch. He asks you if you have any other books you are looking for and regrets that he cannot invite you to lunch because he has other businesses to take care of.

You can have the Complete Set of First Year Books, at the cost of 100 Galleons. It is nearly 1 in the afternoon, according to Mr. Blott's clock.

"Do you have any books about memory?" You ask.

Mr. Blott pushes up his glasses and looks rather confused, "Memory? As in Memory Charms? We do have several tomes on the matter, though one is an instructional manual for Obliviators, so that is rather... short, lacking, so to speak. The other is a rare tome that a rather famous obliviator wrote about seventy years ago. It goes more in depth on the matter of removing memories."

"What about recovering memories? You question further.

"Recovering? Why... you mean breaking Memory Charms?" Mr. Blott sweats a little and adds agitatedly, "No, no. That is violent business. Even I can tell you that, in the Mind Healing and Philosophies tomes, there are only a few ways of removing the Memory Charm. It cannot be countered, you would need to either brutishly break into the mind through means that are not written on books I sell, or dedicate years with a professional Mind Healer. I do have a book on the matter, though I doubt an elementary magic user such as yourself could understand all of it. It was written some hundred or so years ago, by a _healer_. Ugh. Their writing, even when using a Dictating Quill, are abysmal! Even I could barely read it."

[ ] Buy Books  
[ ] Don't Buy  
[ ] Something else

You buy the books and thank Mr. Blott.

By the time you are outside of the bookstore, the Alley seems almost completely back to the way it was. Most of the shops were fixed and all the dead bodies had been taken away. There were several uniformed Aurors patrolling the Alley now, however.

You find yourself in Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. A sells assistant drags you to one of these stands to get measured and poked by needles. It is very confusing. Next to you, a girl your age is suffering from the same fate. She is a redhead. You picture her eating thin, baked bread sticks for some reason.

"Hallo," she greets you, "Are you going to Hogwarts this year too?" She has a strange accent. It is not like the other British people you have heard. It sounds like Russian.

You nod.

"It's all so fascinating, isn't it?" She asks, "Aren't you excited? A chance to get away from all this hum drum. Oh, where are my manners? I am Natalia."

"Homura," you nod.

"Are you," she asks carefully, "Are you one of_ them_? You know, people with wizard parents?"

You shake your head.

"Oh, thank god," She sighs, though she doesn't look like she is all that relieved to hear this. "I thought I was the only one. So are you here with your parents too?

You shake your head again.

"I see," Her shoulders slump just a little before she perks up, "So did you just come here too? What do you like best? Isn't the food interesting?"

[ ] Ignore her.  
[ ] Attempt to put up a facade and socialize.  
[ ] Write-in.

[X] Attempt to socialize.

"Had pumpkin pie at Leaky cauldron. Best meal I can remember eating."

"Oh? I've never tried _pumpkin_ pie," She remarks, "Is it good?"

You nod, "The texture was right and it was not too sweet. The crumbs on top were great too."

"Now I want to try it! Ah, but I've already had lunch," she pouts.

You try to socialize with her by acting like what you imagine a girl your approximate age would act. You come off slightly awkward, at least to yourself, but Natalia doesn't comment on this. She seems to like your hair because it is very sleek and smooth. You think you failed hilariously, but the girl doesn't seem to mind all that much.

Now that you think about it, your hair does feel very well taken care of. What shampoo did you use?

[X] Offer to share our textbooks with her. See if we can get money - textbooks are expensive

"Oh, it's alright," she remarks, "Mom and dad will go buy that stuff for me anyway."

Around this time, her father has come to pick her up.

"I'll see you on the train, or at school!" She waves good bye and leaves.

You are done about five minutes later. The cost for your uniforms come out to be 12 Galleons. The uniforms are supposedly self-ironing and self-repairing. Before you can ask about the enchantments that allow this, the sells assistant shoos you out because more customers have come.

You walk outside and see that rich industrialize man with the sleek, blond hair and ivory cane again. He looks rather upset and he is pointing his cane at you. He growls, "There you are. Stupefy!" A bolt of red light hurls at you.

ONE

You don't really want to touch (or punch) a man in his unmentionables with your hand (or fist). So instead, you step around the bolt of red light and grab onto the cane. It feels very solid.

TWO

The cane is ripped from the man's grip. You spin around.

THREE

Attacking him... won't be necessary. You flip your hair.

FOUR

The cane drops and falls into your shield.

FIVE

You step back, only slightly away so that the spell, whatever it is, misses you with a slight tilt of the head. Your wand is out.

Start.

Time resumes.

The man's eyes widen as he notices that he is clutching nothing. His eyes widen even further at the sight of your _pink_ wand poking his throat. "Stop it," you mutter. "Bad Lucius, very bad." You poke his throat again, causing him to flinch.

He tries to keep his dignity and remarks almost casually, "I won't be humiliated like this, little girl."

You ignore him and begin to walk away.

He reaches into his pockets and...

You spin around, your wand on him again. His breathing stops for a second. He lets whatever he is holding on to go and raises his hands in surrender, for now.

You...

[ ] Walk away elegantly to (write-in).  
[ ] Hurt him by (write-in).  
[ ] Something else?

You turn and tilt your head at Mr. Malfoy, ""Such a hot head..."

"...Ah, I see you are no normal child," he mutters. "Excuse me."

Stop.

One.

You are within range.

Two.

You reach in his coat.

Three.

You find a bag of gold. Next to it another wand.  
Didn't Ollivander say that a wizard can only have one? Or was it something else...

Four.

You take both and...

Five.

Drop them in your Shield.

Start...

The gears of time turn once more.

"Don't charge so thoughtlessly into danger, Mr. Malfoy," you whisper to him softly. You then turn and walk away... _elegantly_ to a nearby shop, as he staggers away.

[ ] Pet Shop  
[ ] Astronomy Shop  
[ ] Ice Cream Shop  
[ ] Broom Shop  
[ ] Candy Shop  
[ ] Something else

[X] Pet Shop

You glide gracefully into the Pet Shop, finding a complete pigsty. Feathers and bugs are flying everywhere-only an enchantment on the establishment keeps the bugs from escaping when you opened the door. As you opened the door, a bell chimes softly. There is a nervous wreck of a sells attendant who is trying to stuff birds of all kinds back into a giant cage. One of the owls seem to have taken his wand.

There was a pair of redheaded twins, adults by the looks of them, laughing hard on one side while trying to help. They were both covered in chocolate for some reason. All of three of these wizards, along with all the snakes, birds, bugs, rats, cats, dogs, and other things turned to you the moment you walked in and froze for a single moment of silence.

"...I can come back," you mutter.

Suddenly the shop was rich with action again, everything and everyone knocking over, breaking, escaping and doing all sorts of things. The addled sells person approaches you. His hair looks like a bird's nest. He says tiredly, "H-How can I help you?" He turns away and yells, "FABIAN! PUT THAT DOWN! GIDEON, STOP PLAYING WITH THAT SNAKE IN YOUR TROUSERS!" He turns back to you and says in an attempt to be gentler, "If you are looking for owls, I suggest going to Eeylops Owl Emporium."

"I am looking for a cat," you reply.

"Ah, well," He says just before he is knocked over by a dog that charged onto his chest. He adds with a croak, "Just look around. If you find one you like, bring 'em up to the counter. Cats go for around ten Galleons, and a month's worth of food and supplies will be an extra two Galleons."

You see several cats.

[ ] A gray, furry cat with a little tag reading "Kneazle". It is sitting atop a shelf watching the chaos.  
[ ] A large cat gnawing on a wooden sigh that read "Half-Lion, Half-Knaezle". It is sitting in what you might call the 'eye of the storm'.  
[ ] A tiny black cat hopping around energetically. It can fit into your hand.  
[ ] A normal looking tabby. It is screeching and scratching at a dog that is chasing it around.

There might be more, but it is hard to see through all this mess. It looks like half of the pets have escaped their cages and are having fun running around. You have no idea how to make them all stop.

[ ] Some other kind of pet?

[X] Tiny Black Cat

You grab the bouncing black cat and hug it to your chest. It looks up at you curiously before squirming around for several seconds. Seeing as you have not let it go, it meows up at you and gives you a very adorable stare. You almost melt.

"Ah, that lil' bugger? I call 'er Lil' Buggah, but you can rename her," the sells attendant calls to you as he tries to stuff a python into a cage. "It's five months old, and has some kneazle in its family, so it's pretty smart. I couldn't catch it, and it's a surprise you did. It'll be 5 Galleons for the little bugger, but it's a good deal, I tell you. I think they were trying to breed pixies or faeries with cats when that thing was shipped here. But that.'s magic. The boss says it'll live a good thirty years at least. How about it?"

You give him the gold from Lucius Malfoy's Sack o' Gold. You also note that there are around 200 Galleons in his Sack left, along with some 50 Sickles and a good 20 Knuts.

You have acquired a Tiny, Bouncing, Black Cat. Choose a nickname?

[ ] Write-in.

The sells attendant briefly got his wand back long enough to shrink your goods into a small package for you. It should be one month's worth of food for your cat as well as a Rewinding Ball of Yarn and some snacks.

"OI! GIDEON, STOP RUBBING THAT SNAKE!" He turns away just as another owl swoops down and steals his wand, "Aw, bugger it. Swoopin' is bad..."

[X] Chen!

"Chen."

"Meow?"

"Your name is Chen."

"Meow."

"What kind of name is Chen?"

"Meow...?"

"I don't know why I thought of it either," you sigh.

"Meow!" Chen jumps on your shoulder and curls up. She looks at you curiously, as if asking where you are taking her next.

You find yourself walking into the Astronomy Shop.

It is a strange mix between a shop for mathematicians and a store for fortune tellers. The way it is arranged reminds you of a toy store.

There are several people in the shop staring at an old lady, presumably one of the sells attendants, telling people's fortunes. There is a sign next to her that reads "Fortune Telling When the Planets Align: 1 Sickle." There is a long line for this apparently.

The telescope set costs 2 Galleons and 4 Sickles here. The clerk tells you that it is a basic set. He shows you how to use it. Using it, you see through the shop window and see the craters on the moon. The clerk also suggests you getting a star chart and a guide book on how the star affect people's fates.

It seems pointless. You feel rather hungry at this point.

Chen crawled up to your head and is curled up and sleeping on you.

What to do and where to go?

You acquired a telescope!

The sells attendant suggests a restaurant called the Boiled Frog. He says it is better than the bar food served at the Leaky Cauldron, but is still affordable.

You enter the Boiling Frog. A well dressed waiter greets you at the door, "Good afternoon, Miss. Do you have a reservation?" He sounds French.

You shake your head.

"Very well," He nods, "It is early, barely 4 PM, but we can accommodate. How many will be attending this meal?"

You point at yourself.

"Very good, Miss," he nods again, "come along."

As it turns out, the Boiling Frog is a restaurant opened by a muggleborn who stayed over seas in the "Colonies" for a decade. It serves something called "Texan Food" and "American Food". You don't really remember ever trying this before so you flip through the menu. It is filled with burgers, stakes, and that sort of thing.

So you order an apple crumb pie with a vanilla milkshake.

The waiter looks at you strangely. "Are you sure that will be all?"

"Meow."

You nod to Chen, who jumps on the table and flips through the menu until she found the a fish fillet dish. The waiter nods slowly, "Anything else? Perhaps something for you, Miss?"

You shrug and add a order of truffles.

It is a very delicious, if a tad sweet, supper. Afterwards, Chen jumps in your pocket and falls asleep. You pay 7 Sickles and 11 Knuts for this meal.

It is 5:30 PM. Night has fallen. You notice that many of the shops that were open during the day start closing. Many of the places that you thought were only residential buildings or abandoned warehouse open up. As it turns out, many of these places are bars, though the ones in the Diagon seem rather safe and well lit. The people walking the streets are even stranger than the ones walking around during the day.

[X] Send the stupid acceptance letter.

You write up an acceptance letter.

"_I am attending._  
-Akemi Homura"

The Eeylops Owl Emporium supposedly rents out owls for delivery. It is open at 8 AM every morning and closes for lunch at 11 AM and opens in the afternoon at 2 PM to 5 PM.

You are able to send out the let the next day for 1 Knut.

[X] Get at least some kind of basic handle on what exactly we have stored inside our shield.

You attempt to let everything out of your shield. This turns out to be a bad idea. Now you have a truck with surface to ship missiles on its back in your living room. You also count 4 RPG-7 and 12 AT4 in the room. There are also over 50 pistols lying around. You find it hard to move. Some of your furniture have been crushed.

After some squirming, you squeeze all this stuff back into the shield and wonder if other wizards have to deal with this.

[X] Update our wardrobe. We are classy and elegant and we are not wearing the same damned thing every day.

You find several shops outside of the Leak Cauldron on the 'muggle' side that have very nice clothing. They are either for men or for older women, however. And you do not have any English Pounds to buy them with. There are several tailor too. There is also a small shop you found in Knock Turn Alley that makes muggle clothing.

It is run by a brother and sister team, though the sister seems to be about your age.

[X] Get some more/better furniture too. And cat toys.

Furniture?

Hm...

You find several shops in the 'muggle' London. There is also a wood worker's store in Diagon that sells some furniture. It is mostly for buying trunks however. You buy an ever-replenishing scratching post and a rideable toy car for Chen. She likes honking the toy car's horns.

[X] Get some maps and find out exactly where we are and where the nearest sources of death dealing instruments are. Given British policies on gun stores and the fact that our time stopping is limited right now, I suspect the best we're going to be able to do is more home-made pipe bombs and lots of (hunting) shotguns.

Guns?

You find a barracks in London.

[X] Spend some time in Diagon's Alley and Knockturn Alley getting more background on basic wizarding life. How to get to Hogwarts, common lay person views on that retarded ass housing system, and so on.

Many people laugh at you before walking away, muttering about muggleborns. An old couple tells you that you just need to be at King's Cross Station to get to Hogwarts. They also tell you the basics of the House system before petting your head and saying what a nice little girl you are.

[X] Spend funds on more books. Ideally books that aren't pieces of crap like Hogwarts: A History, but some actually useful ones.  
[X] Use time stopping repeatedly to read them all quickly. And maybe I don't know kick start it into working longer or something.

Buy books?

You enter Blott's for more books, but the old man suggests you finish your current books first.

[X] Practice basic spells. Attune with wand. See if shield has any other tricks.  
[X] Train body as well. If you're going to engage in close combat against squishy wizards, martial arts++. Or at minimum knuckledusters/some other kind of punch enhancer.

You read a lot of the books.

It is very hard to understand all this because they introduce new systems of philosophy to you, which seem to be the fundamentals and theory of magic. You learn the basic "Lumos" spell and the "Flipendo" which is easy for you to visualize. It is a spell that acts like a magical punch. Technically it is a 'knock back jinx'.

When you use it, it creates a fist sized bolt of pink that makes a huge dent in the walls of your room. The 'Lumos' spell is a spell that makes light from the tip of your wand. It is very bright and very slightly pink.

[X] Begin training Chen into a furry, adorable instrument of death. Or maybe just to be furry and adorable and able to read or something. It is not your f-familiar. You hate that word also.

Chen thinks you are playing hide-and-seek with her.

[X] Reduce crime and build funds. Be relatively conservative until you have your logistics taken care of and you know your limits a little more.

Hm?

You walk around Diagon Alley looking for trouble. Nothing happens.

[X] Practice your English.

You talk to Chen in English as practice. It doesn't seem to be working. Is it working? You aren't sure.

[X] Try and find out more on Japanese wizarding society. You may have to sell this.

You find a small community of Chinese wizards in Chinatown, London. They live in a street called China Alley. There is an irritable old man who, upon seeing you approach the street, waves a preserved lizard at you and yells in Chinese.

[X] There's nothing other than weapons in the shield?

You try to make anything that isn't a weapon and isn't what you already know, come out. Several pictures of a pink-haired girl drop out. More pictures.

More pictures from every angle.

They keep pouring out until you have a pile taller than yourself. All pictures, from all angles of a pink-haired girl. Why does your heart pound loudly and hurt deeply when you look at her? Your pink wand hums a little.

Then all sorts of candies and snacks start pouring out until your room is filled. Ugh. When you put this away and try again, you only get sets of golf clubs.

There isn't much else in the shield. Except more weapons.

[X] Examine ring more closely, show off to Chen.

You wonder if the ring is actually a magical mood ring. It brightens up when you feel... well, not "happy" persay, but perhaps "uplifted"... from seeing Chen roll around. When you are down and despairing, it darkens. You notice little gears moving inside it. how peculiar. Wizards don't know anything about machines from what you've accidentally overheard, so this seems rather out of place.

Chen seems fascinated by the Ring, though more as a new toy than anything else. You...

[ ] Play with her with the ring on.  
[ ] Let her play with the ring.  
[ ] Try to use the ring on Chen the same way it fixed you.  
[ ] Keep it out of her reach; it could be dangerous.

[X] MAGICAL TRAINING MONTAGE  
[X] Train Flipendo. Do we have a basement? Create targets in the basement. If not, indoors, but let's try not to break down our walls.  
[X] Learn more advanced spells.

You play around with the 'Flipendo' spell for one week. In the first three days, you barely conjure up a wisp of pink smoke. You seem to figure out how to picture what you want the spell to do on the fourth day. Since then, the spell has been consistently shooting out fist sized bolts that seem to equal to one of your punches or pushes.

You figure that you take around two seconds to cast this spell, but it doesn't seem to have a limit on range, other than traveling as far as you can see. There doesn't seem to be a limit on how many times you can use it either, because you found your wrist aching sooner than you feeling any bit tired from the actual spell casting. By the end of the week, you feel you could do it in your sleep, but that is perhaps just an exaggeration.

Though most of your shots are consistent, they don't seem to do much actual damage. You did have one instance of something spectacular, which left a four centimeter deep hole in the shape of a heart-of all things-on the wall.

In your spare time, you found a nice, simple spell known as the repairing spell. You found that you couldn't really cast it however, because you can't seem to pronounce the "Reparo" correctly. Or maybe it is your wand motion? Or perhaps there is some part of the theory that you have not grasped yet? You are not too sure.

You also try the levitation charm, but with even less results. "Wingardium Leviosa" is a bit too hard for you to pronounce correctly, especially without having heard it before. You wonder in frustration if this vocal part of the spell casting is even necessary.

[X] PHYSICAL TRAINING MONTAGE  
[X] Get inspiration from reading physical fitness books and watching unrealistic movies like Rocky. You can totally appreciate his DETERMINATION, even if you feel mildly offput that he seems to have gotten a happy ending and you just have brain damage, er, amnesia.  
[X] Go jogging every day. Carry Chen on your head to train her navigational skills. Be adorable.  
[X] Push-ups! Curls! Punches! Seriously get some knuckledusters.

You have not found any fitness books and you do not remember ever watching a movie.

However, you do find some hours out of each day to jog with Chen. Chen doesn't seem to want to just sit on you; sometimes she tries to run beside you. However, she is not able to keep up for more than five minutes. You find that you can finish a dash of approximately 1 KM in around 4 minutes, but you can only maintain this speed for 5 KM. You feel rather down that you are so slow.

After the first KM, Chen sits on your head and tries to navigate you to candy shops. She doesn't seem to be a good influence, though you don't complain.

You try doing push-ups and set-ups and... stuff...? They seem pretty easy, but after doing this kind of thing continuously for a good thirty minutes each day, you feel rather bored of it. You do feel better after each "work out", but you only have two sets of clothing. You wonder if there is a spell for cleaning clothes?

You attempt to punch the air, as if there is an imaginary you in front of you. This seems to work well, but one day while you were on your jog doing this, you met the grumpy, old Chinaman, who laughed at you when you did this. That seems rather mean. Chen doesn't like how the old man looks, but seems to like his smell.

[ ] Prank him for revenge.  
[ ] Ask him to teach you better.  
[ ] Ignore him and go home.  
[ ] Other.

[X] ECONOMIC TRAINING MONTAGE  
[X] Go to Gringotts to try and convert some of the extra GOLD we lifted from Malfoy to English Pounds.  
[X] Use that to buy goods (ie get some clothing from those shops we found before).  
[X] For heavier stuff (...replacement furniture), seriously just case the joint, then either stuff it into the shield then and there and be gone or if that would be way too obvious and you can't get away fast enough, plan out an after hours excursion.  
[X] Consider wandering around Knockturn Alley or London late at night instead of Diagon. Much greater chance of being jumped by some disreputable sort and being able to introduce violence.

How much money?

...?

?

...

You found that most of the residents of Knock Turn Alley are muggleborn who are unable to get a job. Most of them end up working as a tavern wench-whatever that is-or a spice pusher. You have no idea what that is either, but you found that many of them seem to be selling teach other little packets of cannabis or some kind of white powder. They seem rather happy with it.

There are also some dark wizards holed up here, apparently planning something. Everyone minds their own business but the old hags in Knock Turn Alley seem to like to gossip a lot. Like most older women, you add.

One night, while taking a stroll through Knock Turn Alley with Chen on your shoulder, you notice a young man dressed, wearing very tight leather pants and rather out of date clothing, sucking on a woman's neck for some reason. At first you thought they were doing naughty adult business, so you peaked in a little. But then you noticed that man was actually puncturing the woman's neck and drinking her blood.

What to do?

[ ] Write-in.

[X] CHEN TRAINING MONTAGE  
[X] Continue educating Chen. Carry pet-treats at all times for rewards.

"Meow."

"...hm." _homu_

"Meow!"

"...hm." _homu_

"Meow.."

"...hm?" _homu_

"Meow?"

"Hm." _homu_

"...Meow."

"...hm..." _homu_

"...Meow?"

You can't resist it anymore and hug the tiny little black kitten._ Homuhomuhomu_

[X] Play with her with the ring on.

Nothing happens, though her seems to enjoy your attention.

[X] Ask him to teach you better.

"Eh? Train you? A dirty little Jap urchin? Don't be silly!" He moves so fast you couldn't even see it until you felt it: a chop to your forehead.

Ow.

It doesn't really hurt though, so you ask, "...Why did you hit me?"

"That was terrible," he says in his strange accent, "You will work for me to gather ingredients, and perhaps I will teach you as a reward."

"Oh. Thank-"

"And one more thing, you will make me coffee and serve it to me at my store. Come," he starts to lead you away into magical Chinatown.

You follow quickly.

"And one more thing, I don't trust you! You Japanese are always so suspicious. You better do the job right. And make me tea too. You better not be serving me cold tea!" He adds.

You nod awkwardly.

"And one more thing..."

...You end up getting a job with this strange, old Chinaman for about 4 hours every morning. For free. For the next three weeks until you have to go to school. On the first day, he makes you do strange and menial tasks like working as a receptionist for his store or serving tea or waxing and polishing his strange wares.

You wonder if you even want this job, really.

You don't know who he is, but most people who seem to know him just call him Uncle. He runs something of a pawnshop, but also sells magical wares and rare potions ingredients to magical folk.

...And when is he going to teach you things?

[X] Cough politely from behind him. There could be a reasonable explanation for this. Maybe they're _kinky_. If he attacks, or the woman tries to call for help, or run away, then stop time and shoot him a few times. You have pistols. He doesn't _really_ need both kneecaps and elbows in that case, does he? Probably put a couple in his center of mass, too. And impale with wooden golf clubs. Then loot the body. Then if he's still twitching, dump a grenade on his corpse after the area is clear of non-combatants.

You cough politely.

The man turns around, his eyes glowing red. His jaw was impossibly wide and filled with sharp, inhuman teeth. Blood dripped everywhere. "Oh," he mutters, "Another prey. How fortunate. But first, I will need to rape you... virgins don't make good ghouls and all that."

You panic and stop time before he attacks, a little too shocked by his appearance. One, two...

You shake out of it and go by what you know. Two berettas drop into your waiting hands and you pump the ma's knees and elbows full of bullets. Three, four, five...

Blood explodes everywhere as the man's limbs are torn off his body. You notice that the woman's skin seems to have gone gray and she seems to be twitching.

"What... are you?" You ask softly, not moving any closer.

The man's head rises and twists out strangely at you as he replies, "I could as you the same thing. Ack, this shit hurts. Bloody hell, you're a fast one. Well, aren't you going to finish it, hunter? Or are you really as ignorant as you sound, ya bloody bint," He growls, "I'm a bloody vampire! Get it?" He raises the stumps that were his arms before frowning, "Shit, how the bloody hell am I supposed to fix this?"

The woman seems to be growling. How peculiar.

You tilt your head at the so-called vampire. He looks as if he had escaped an insane asylum. His grin seems particularly crazy. You reply with a hint of confusion, "...Hunter? I am just an average Japanese Hogwarts student. I have not yet attended the school yet."

"Wha... what?" He stares at you in shock.

You frown at him. You don't like his tone.

_Bam!Bam!Bam!Bam!Bam!Bam!Bam!Bam!_ You empty a clip from your Beretta into the man's skull. He seems to be twitching even after half of his head has been blown off. You hold your other gun, a Desert Eagle of some kind, steady, just in case.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" You ask the lady.

She looks up at you. Sort of. Her head lurches up at you, but her eyes seem to have rolled around to the back of her head. Blood is still leaking from her neck. It doesn't look like she should be living much longer or if at all by this point. Her teeth have magically grown sharper and longer, like something out a horror story. "Ughh..." she replies.

"...hm?" You shoot her in the head.

Her head explodes in a shower of gore. Her fingers are still twitching, though she doesn't seem to be trying to get up anymore. The so-called vampire's tongue seems to be swirling around and you notice some blood moving slowly towards his body... You shoot him again, this time in the chest. This seems to have stopped him, but the blood doesn't seem to be stopping. The pool of blood has already spread around in a 5 meter radius and some is getting close to your feet. The woman's corpse seems to be crumbling however.

...As it turns out, your gunfire is very loud. You can hear several people approaching quickly. Two, maybe three people. One woman. They are conversing, but not whispering or hiding their presence. You...

[ ] Write-in.

[X] Discuss this sequence of events with Uncle. If he asks, you weren't confident in your martial arts, which was why you used this [display pistol] instead.

...Sequence of events?

You found the vampire only after you worked for Uncle for that morning. What are you trying to say?

...Uncle tells you to stop slacking off like a Communist and get back to work. He slaps the back of your head. And one more thing, stop being so emotionless, it scares the customers! Smile more.

You do not succeed at smiling more, causing another chop to the head.

[X] It seems like this is it.

You stab the end of your cane into the vampire's chest, where you think his heart is. this only causes his body to twitch a few times more while blood squirts out of the hole you made in his chest. You find this whole business extremely unpleasant.

Seeing the body still left, you rummage through his bloody pockets and find a small, wooden wand that doesn't look as high quality as an Ollivander make, a small, dark-red felt book titled 'Flavorful Beings and Where to Find Them', and a small pouch with less than twenty coins in total. You also find a key to a "Building 6 Room 6, Knock Turn Alley".

The woman is wearing a nice, golden necklace and the man is wearing an obsidian ring, though both are covered in blood. You aren't sure you want those, though your hands are already covered with the so-called vampire's blood.

Three people arrive on the scene after you decide whether to loot these pieces of jewelry, or which to do so.

Their identities are obscured by some kind of magic, though it could also be the natural lack of light in the area. They are all wearing leather long coats with a kind of cowboy hat? You aren't too sure, but perhaps it looks like something out an old movie.

Their leader whistles and calls out, probably for your benefit, "Looks like we got here too late. Are you alright there, little miss?"

The thinnest one, who you assume is the woman, starts shifting through the pieces of skull and grey matter you blew off of the vampire man. She doesn't say anything. The other man just stands behind his leader and watches you silently.

"I'm Dan," the man says in a good natured fashion and slowly creeps around towards you, though not directly and you almost miss this. "Dan Stunpike, vampire hunter. What are you doing out here in the dead of night, little miss?" He sounds strange and seems to omit many syllables. You wonder if he has a speech impediment.

"...I," You start but remember what you want, "Do you have any matches?"

"Matches? Are you a witch or not, miss?" Dan Stunpike chortles roughly, "Incendio would be just fine. But first, we've got to collect. You don't mind if we take their fangs, do you?"

[X] "...Fine, but what do you need them for."

"Eh? Of course, it's for the bounty office! What do you think the occupation of a 'vampire hunter' means?" He laughs. He is within two meters of you now. "It pays decently and it's plenty of adventure. Not as good pay as curse breaker, but less dangerous."

[X]Take the jewlery.

The woman was wearing a thin necklace made of gold with a slight reddish hue that is barely noticeable under this light. It is very small and light and does not seem to be special in any way.

The vampire man's ring is engraved with some kind of sigil. It seems to be some kind of little ritual circle, or what you think muggles might think a ritual circle looks like. The ring and its engraving both have an evil feeling to it.

[X] Mine.

"...My kill," you mutter to the group without hesitation. You pause and add, "Use 'Incendio'. I want to see this."

"See here, missy," Mister Stunpike interjects, "You need to join the guild to turn in bounties, and that's rather dangerous to do so alone. Vampires... there are good ones and bad ones, but they are all dark creatures. They all see rookie hunters as a threat. And they don't like that."

You touch your ears and feign sentimental, "I want them for earrings."

"Ha! You're bold, I'll give you that," Mister Stunpike says. "I'll give you that. Here," He was his wand in a simple motion and mutters, "Incendio." A small wave of flames spurt out of his wand like a concentrated flame thrower. It isn't that hot though. The fire is small, like something that is made from a small stack of firewood.

The vampire's body is very flammable. It burns to ashes in moments.

"What is a vampire hunter?" You ask curiously.

Mister Stunpike shrugs, "It's a mix of things really. We're dark creature hunters and if they are dangerous, we kill them. We're good people helping good people, essentially. The money's good too. Every confirmed kill is worth a good 50 Galleons... more if the vampires aren't fledgelings."

"Hey Dan," the man behind him calls out gruffly, "Not all of us are selfless blokes. Anyway, quit chattering, grab the teeth and let's get out of here."

"Eh, now see here," Mister Stunpike turns around, "The little lady kill 'em, let her have them."

"No, you see here," the man replies. He is taller and bulkier than Mister Stunpike. He grabs Mister Stunpike by the collar and lifts him up a few centimeters, "We're not messing with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We're just mercs, Dan. Git it into your thick skull. You've got a six year old kid at home and a beautiful wife, don't want the Death Eaters paying them a visit now, do you?"

"Let go, Henrick," Mister Stunpike growls back, grabbing the other man's wrists. "I-"

"No, you listen," The man whispers, but you can hear him pretty well. "The money's good. We're going to need it. Just memory charm the girl. She's lucky it's us, if it were the others, they would just stun her and loot her too. You know how it is. This kindness of yours is going to get you killed one day."

"I... Alright, but I'll have no part in this. I'll see you at base." Mister Stunpike sighs and turns to you, "For what's it's worth, I'm sorry." With a sharp crack, he disappeared.

He disappeared! You blink twice, wondering if you had missed something. Did he use some kind of vanishing trick? You couldn't even catch anything!

The man nodded to the woman and grunted, "Dan's loss. More for us." The man turns to you, wand raised while the woman continues to search around, probably looking for valuables. "Hold still, girl. This won't hurt at all."

You feel your lower lip tremble slightly. The man seems so calm, so emotionless. His eyes are not cold, but not warm either. It is a cruel, blank look in his eyes, one that is calculating but not hindered by emotions. Like a machine, a sociopath, a... someone like yourself, actually. This shakes you, but it does not affect you enough to cause you to misstep.

...Time has stopped.

One.

You get within range of the man. You notice that he is wearing many small charms or something similar. Some are just small, woven bands with a tooth of some kind attached while others are strange carvings into wood or stone, with a strange symmetry that seems to be larger inside the carvings than outside.

Your eyes scan the man. He has other weapons stowed away. There are pieces of material on his body that seem purposely unnoticeable. A little piece of cloth here, a little strap of leather there...

Two.

The man's wand is in your hand. It is thicker than three of your fingers combined. The handle is wrapped in many straps of dried leather of some kind. The scales are too big to be of any lizard you could guess. Perhaps alligator skin?

Three.

You see three hidden throwing knives up the man's sleeve.

Four.

You hastily grab the knives, only to see a small, hand-held cross bow in the inner pocket of the man's leather coat. You reach for it.

Five...

You grab hold of it. You pull.

It is loose and...

Time moves once more.

...the man's eyes widen marginally as he sees you holding his cross bow just two steps in front of him. His fingers twitch without a wand in his hands. His mouth twists downward. Grim. Insulted. Annoyed. He bares his teeth at you, but instead of reaching for a weapon, he charges at you.

The man is strong and heavy. He must weigh at least three times your weight. Yet he doesn't under estimate your physical prowess. His shoulder slams into your gut, knocking your breath out. With his two paws, he grapples you and continues to charge you into the ground.

Your back hits the cobblestone steps of Knock Turn Alley. It hurts. The crossbow clatters on the stone steps out of your reach. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt.

Pain.

Ow. Your teeth grit tightly as you hiss softly in pain. You panic. Your heart beats quickly but your mind has not caught up and has not reacted. You act on instinct. Your hands smash into the man's neck, first at your normal strength.

Then your second blow came, ten times faster, ten times harder.

The man gasps, hurt. He backs up, just outside of the range of your arms and his hands grip your neck tightly. Everything seem grayer. Sounds seem softer. You hear the man's female companion calling to him, rushing up. He replies, but you don't really hear it. Your hands scratch at his forearms, hard enough to dig deep. To draw blood and rip skin, but his grip on your neck only falters for a moment...

Your vision dims. Limbs are shaking. Your hands tremble.

The strange noise coming out of your throat seems to indicate your pain. Your mind falters for a brief moment, almost blanking out. A gold plated Desert Eagle falls from beneath the shield, into your waiting hand. You raise it to the man's chest and shoot.

One shot. The man's grip on your weakens. His body is pushed back and he gasps in surprise.

Three shots. The man falls back. Blood drips from his lips. His hands raise to protect himself but they are unable to stop your shots.

You shoot again lower, at his stomach. He keels over and rolls away in pain. Blood flies. You see dimly that the woman is about to wait her wand at you.

Stop.

You crawl out from under the man. Three seconds left.

You get up your feet, staggering and coughing. Two seconds left.

You hobble and run away into darker corners. Zero seconds left.

Tickticktickticktick... time resumes.

A bolt of red shoots at where you were. You lean back, hiding in a dark, smaller alleyway. There is barely any room for you to move, let alone crumple down. You try to tone down on the coughing and choking noises, but it is difficult.

The woman is shouting something. You peak out and see that she is waving her wand over the man frantically.

[X] Character Sheet

Akemi Homura  
Age: 11 (?)

Mind – (F-) Your mind is fractured.  
Agility – (D+) You are very quick for a human in general.  
Strength – (D) You have the strength of an athletic human your age.  
Charisma – (F-) You have little social skills and you have a hard time getting along with people.  
Dexterity – (D) You are very nimble for a human in general.  
Endurance – (D) You have the constitution of a healthy human your age.

Skills:

Innate Instinct – (D-)  
Akemi Homura has many skills that she has earned through judicious amounts of hard work and magic. She is able to instinctively fight hand-to-hand combat with skill equal to that of a master of a single form of lethal martial arts. Due to this, her movements are instinctively graceful and elegant.

Puella Magi – (D- to EX)  
It is uncertain what the limit of a Puella Magi is, but there is no current limit on their growth. Akemi Homura is capable of achieving this form at any time with the use of her Jewel Seed. It currently allows her to increase her strength, dexterity, and constitution to over ten times her current ability. Through past training, Akemi Homura's body has learned to control this form as well as if she were in her mundane form without any notable changes.

Shield – (B+)  
Akemi Homura has one trump card. This is her shield of storage and time jumping. It has an hourglass that is currently empty, but it is suspected of having greater power if the hourglass is filled. Currently it can hold an unlimited amount of items within, which can be called forth with Akemi Homura's mind. The shield can also pause time for 5 seconds, on command. There is a 5 second delay for this effect to occur again afterwards.

Wand Magic:

Charms – (F-) Akemi Homura is currently studying Charms theories of the first year level.  
Jinxes – (F) Akemi Homura is currently able to learn and use a few Jinxes of the first year level.

Spells:

E Rank  
"Flipendo"

F Rank  
"Lumos"

No Rank  
"Wingardium Leviosa", "Reparo"

Inventory:

Gold Plated Desert Eagle .50 Action Express 7 Rounds 260mm (1) (4 Rounds Left)

Inventory in Shield:

Pink Yew Wand with Ribbon Core  
Magical Telescope (1)  
Big Sack o' Gold (629 Galleons)  
Vampire's Small Sack o' Gold (12 Galleons, 7 Knuts)  
Vampire's Low Quality Wand  
Engraved Obsidian Ring (1)  
Golden Necklace (1)  
Hunter's Throwing Knife (3)  
Hunter's Thick Wand  
Cat Supplies (3 Weeks)  
Lucius Malfoy's Wand  
Lucius Malfoy's Spare Wand  
Lucius Malfoy's Big Sack o' Gold (198 Galleons, 39 Sickles, 9 Knuts)  
Lucius Malfoy's Ivory Cane-Wand  
Rare Ingredients of the World Yearly Magazine(1)  
Potion's Monthly Magazine(1)  
Flavorful Beings and Where to Find Them Book (1)  
Stick of Gum (1?)  
Rubber Band (1?)  
Paper Clip (1?)

Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) (1)  
Set glass or crystal phials (1)  
Set brass scales (1)  
Complete Set of First Year Books (1)  
Set Basic Potions Ingredients (1)

M67 Grenade (?)  
M84 Stun Grenade (?)  
Beretta M9 (?)  
Desert Eagle Mark XIX (?)  
RPG-7 Anti-Tank Grenade Launcher (?)  
M136 AT-4 Light Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher (?)  
Type 88 SSM Battery (?)  
? (?)

[X] Kill.

You lean forward against the walls and wheeze uncontrollably. Your neck feels like it has been crushed. You don't question why you are still conscious or even still alive, but from the way the other man reacted, what you are... whatever you are... can't be normal by their standards.

The woman is calling out to you and yelling something.

You stay behind the bricks and in the alleyway. It is out of her sight. She is creeping towards you, but you can tell from her shadow that she wasn't moving fast. She was cautious. That would cost her something only you have in supply: time.

Everything is grayer. You aren't sure if you counted to 5, but as the woman appeared only a step away, you had no choice left. Stop.

_Tick._

You hand trembles from exertion as you line your pistol up to the side of her head. With her temple in view, you pull the trigger. And again. Then you push her body away and stagger towards the man.

_Tock._

Somehow, the woman's magic seems to have knitted together the man's flesh. He is sitting up, but also coughing out blood.

_Tick_.

Aim. Steady... _tock_. Fire. Your hand quivered at the last moment, causing you to shoot him through his left eye instead of hitting him just between his eyes... _tick._ Resume. Blood flies everywhere.

You feel sick and mentally tired. Your neck still aches. It is very difficult to breathe. You can't swallow either. Your hands reach up to rub your neck, just as your legs give in and you fall to your knees. You are tired. You try to whisper hoarsely, but you can't even hear the whisper that comes out, "...You are a foolish man. Why... why did this happen...?"

You shake and shiver as you half-crawl and half-stagger around, picking up the shells of the bullets you used. You try to loot the two bodies, but as you touch them, you feel like you dipped your hands in acid.

You flinch away from them.

You don't want to be here anymore. After a few moments of harsh breathing, you pick yourself. It is enough that you can get home. Your wand is in your hands. You try the wand movement Dan Stunpike showed you. It doesn't seem to work. You can't make the sounds.

In your frustration, you try to only say the words in your head. A puff of smoke comes out.

You try again.

And again.

...and again, each time with more urgency and need. The smoke steadily grows to be a spike and then a small ember. It is enough to set everything on fire. Whatever overcoats the two wore however, are resistant to the flames. In fact, even as their bodies began making the putrid smell of burning flesh, you see that their coats were still pristine.

You don't care.

Just run or walk or crawl home. Covered in mud and blood and sweat. You collapse on your wooden couch. Chen jumps up and nuzzles your cheek. She wipes away a solitary tear that rolls down your cheek.

You close your eyes. You cannot cry or whimper... your neck hurts too much for you to do that. If only there was a way to heal this. You fall asleep with only more tears. And you try to forget about this.

...Next morning. You wake up on the couch. Your neck still hurts. You can't seem to make more sounds than a whisper. Chen is sleeping on your chest.

There is a blood splattered gun of gold on the floor beside you. Your clothes are covered in blood. You look at the old clock in the living room. It is 11 AM. Uncle expected you 3 hours ago.

There is a pair of vampire fangs near the gun.

You take out a picture of the Pink Haired Girl. Nothing really happens. You aren't even sure if she exists. Why do you have her picture? Why do you feel like you should know her?

You try using your ring again. It turns into the little egg shaped jewel. You try using it in some way to help yourself. A quick flash of light and you reach up to feel your throat. You feel better. Healed even. But the phantom pain does not stop. When you close your eyes, you can still see the vampire hunter choking you... feeling this...

...The egg shaped jewel looks really dim, almost black.

"Meow?" Chen licks the jewel. Then she licks it again. "Meow."

You shudder.

The jewel looks brighter now. How peculiar.

Depart to see Uncle?

[ ] Yes. Do [write-in] instead.  
[ ] No. Then [write-in] Uncle.

[X]Stick Chen in our pocket.

Chen curls up in your pocket and falls asleep mewing.

[X]Make a mental note to buy a Hat of some sort.

Noted.

[X]Go see Uncle

You arrive at Uncle's shop. It's squeezed between two larger stores, so very few people actually come in. There are many random and strange things, like Chinese pole weapons and Ming vases, in the store.

The moment you enter, Uncle appears out of nowhere and chops your forehead. "You're late!" He yells, "And for that, you're wearing a uniform in the future. It attracts customers." It was a sailor outfit with a really short skirt. "And one more thing, why are you late?"


End file.
